Gotham City
by GuardianAngel102310
Summary: Nolanverse Joker/Harley fic. Based post-TDK. Harley is not at all what she seems. She is a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum where she has an incredible track record of getting inmates out on parole and she has just been assigned what may be her most difficult patient yet: The Joker.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, guys. So this is a story I've had floating around in my head for a while, but have never had the chance to get it down in print because I've been so busy with school. Freshman year at college, hooray! Haha. It actually is really fun and I love it, it's just so much work. But it's worth it.

This is a Nolanverse Harley/Joker fic, and I'm taking my own liberties with Harley. This is set post-TDK to post-TDKR.

I obviously own nothing, it all belongs to DC and Christopher Nolan.

It's kind of short, but it's just a start. Anyway! I hope you enjoy the story and I hope I do the characters justice.

Chapter One

Today was the day. The day I would finally be taking over the Joker's sessions. The Joker had been with us in Arkham for over a year now and had already gone through several doctors. Thirty-eight, to be exact. Dr. Arkham kept having to hire new psychiatrists after the Joker would make them run screaming from the sessions. Some lasted longer than others, but none lasted longer than a month. With all of the best professionals being sent packing, Dr. Arkham didn't want to risk using me. I am the youngest psychiatrist Arkham has ever hired, but also the best, and I was only hired because my college professor wrote me a sparkling letter of recommendation. Since I'd been here, I had treated some of the most notorious criminals Gotham had ever seen and had successfully gotten them to a state where they could be released on parole.

I had only been working here three years, but there was never a patient I couldn't cure, and Jeremiah Arkham valued my employment too much to risk losing me to the Joker, too. That's the only reason it had taken so long for me to be put on the case. And I have to say, it's about time.

Ever since he first started his crime spree in Gotham, I had been fascinated by the Joker. How he talks, how he commits crimes, and especially how he leaves a calling card. What kind of criminal _wants_ to get caught? People would call him crazy. I never bought into hearsay. There was something different about him. He never seemed legitimately crazy to me. But I guess I was about to find out.

_gothamcitygothamcitygothamci ty_

I walked in to my office, expecting it to be empty, but he was already in there, sitting on the couch. He wore no makeup and his hair dye had faded enough to let his natural dirty blond hair show. He watched my every movement with his dark eyes, studying me like a predator would its prey. Despite what he clearly intended, I was not threatened by this. I wasn't even remotely frightened. I knew who he was, but he obviously had no idea who I was.

I repositioned my glasses on the bridge of my nose, cleared my throat, and adjusted my long, blonde ponytail quickly before sitting down in the chair across from him. Just as I had assessed him, he was assessing me. He was catching every movement I made and analyzing it as if he thought I would attack him and he needed to be prepared. Even with his wrists and ankles cuffed, I knew he could do damage if he really wanted to. His eyes continued to roam me and I broke my professionalism with a tiny smirk before I regained character once more.

"So, Mr. Joker. I see here that you've gone through thirty-eight different doctors. How on earth have you managed that in the short time you've been here?" I asked in my most professional tone.

"Dr. Harleen Quinzel," he drawled out my name. "Is blonde your, uh, natural hair color?"

I sighed. "I'll be asking the questions, Mr. Joker." I knew this would happen. He had never wanted to talk about himself or his life with any of the past doctors unless he was making up some story of how he got his scars.

He licked his lower lip and shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no. That doesn't work for me."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Seeing as I want to help you and am not legally able to tell you anything about myself. And these therapy sessions are recorded," I gestured to the recording device on the table in front of me.

He tilted his head to the side and stared at me. "Awe, doc. I thought you'd be more fun than that. Than the others…"

I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. With my eyes closed, I heard him chuckle. At me, I assumed. When I opened my eyes, I returned his stare for a good minute before I reached over and stopped the recording.

"Alright, how about this. I ask you a question, you answer, I stop the recorder and you can ask me a question that _I_ will answer. Since these first few sessions are vital to be recorded, this is the way it'll have to be. If at some point, you want to have some unscheduled sessions without the recorder, we can do that. But we have to get through at least three sessions with it before that can start. And all of our regular sessions must be recorded. Sound good?"

He only smirked at me.

_gothamcitygothamcitygothamci ty_

I silently ran across the rooftop of the mob boss' base for drug deals. I ran as fast as I could before the explosion. The moment I reached a high rooftop far enough away, I sat on the edge, ready to watch the fireworks.

I smirked as my mental countdown grew smaller. _Three… Two… One…_ As soon as my mental clock reached zero, the building went up into smoke and flames with joker cards flying everywhere. My smirk grew into a smile as I watched my handy work. It was the perfect crime. Everyone knows the Joker is brilliant, but nobody can figure out his thought process. So who's to say that he wouldn't break out of Arkham at night to commit crimes and then get back into the hospital and pretend nothing happened? It could be fun for him. You never know. He's just such an enigma.

I watched as the fire trucks and police cars showed up blaring their sirens and grinned. Once the authorities started looking around the area, I decided to take my leave and get home. After all, I had to work tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_1 week ago—first session_

We had spent the hour talking about nonsense. Time passed, basically, with me asking the questions I was supposed to ask and him avoiding my questions with questions of his own. Once we had made our agreement, he started answering me.

"How have you managed to go through thirty-eight doctors in a year?"

"I talked to them. They didn't like what I had to say." He seemed pretty proud of himself. And true to our earlier agreement, I stopped the recorder so he could ask me a question. "Are you a, uh, natural blonde?"

"Yes." I turned the recorder back on as he smiled at my short answer. "Was getting caught part of your master plan?"

"If you can call it that. Look at me, doc. Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"

"Does that count as your question?"

"That counts as yours. Is that your real hair?"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You said you're a natural blonde. Is the hair on your head your real hair?"

"Why the fascination with my hair?"

"Is it your real hair?"

I sighed. "No." Damn it. I knew he was good at reading people.

"So it's a wig?"

"Yes."

"Why are you wearing a wig?"

"You've asked three questions in a row. It's my turn." He waved his hand for me to continue with a question. "Why do you wear the makeup?"

"It, uh, makes my skin soft. Why do you wear the wig?"

I smirked. "I have cancer."

"Why do you wear the wig?"

"Chemotherapy."

"Why do you wear the wig?"

"I had a drunken Britney Spears night."

"Why do you wear the wig?"

As I was about to come back with another response, the timer signaling the end of the session went off.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Joker. It looks like we're out of time. I'll see you next week."

He stood up from the couch and walked over to me, speaking an inch away from my face. "I'm ready to start those, uh, unscheduled sessions now, doc."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Joker. We need at least two more scheduled, recorded sessions before that can happen. It's only two more weeks. I'm sure you can survive that."

_gothamcitygothamcitygothamci ty_

I crawled into my bed, exhausted from a long night of work. Those mob bosses didn't know what hit them. Yeah, it was probably stupid of me to commit crimes under the guise of the Joker while he was locked away, but I truly believe that Gotham City was a much better place when he was running things. It was also a lot more fun. In one corner was the Joker, causing chaos. In another, Gotham's _finest_, the police force trying to track down the Joker. In a third, the terrified citizens of Gotham, cowering with each other, trying their absolute hardest to avoid the Joker's attention. And finally, in the last corner, the Batman. He was the one getting the results with the Joker, but he never failed to obey his one rule. No killing. That even applied to murderous psychopaths, apparently.

Everyone saw the Joker as crazy. No one saw him for what he really is. Not really. He's a genius. If people would pay more attention to the little things he does, they would all realize that they could never win with him because he's always three steps ahead. While he was terrorizing the city, I spent my time studying him. I kept to the shadows and out of his notice as I would watch him work. The jobs he pulled off were truly sights to see. He's very good at what he does.

If I thought I couldn't get him out of my head before, I really couldn't now. Now that I was working with him, he invaded every thought I had. I had even been dreaming about him lately. I think some part of me wanted to fit in somewhere. I had always been the weird child and never had many friends, so when a guy came around who thought like I did, it inspired me. Another part of me wanted to prove that I was better at this than him. Or at least just as good. Since I was now his assigned doctor, I could add him to my plan. Assuming, of course, that he would cooperate. I could execute my plan by myself, but it would be so much bigger and so much more effective if he were on my side with this and if he were willing to help.

I wanted to bring chaos back to Gotham.

_gothamcitygothamcitygothamci ty_

_Session two_

"Evening, doc. Has, uh, anyone ever given you a nickname? _Doctor Harleen Quinzel_ is just such a mouthful," he smirked at me as I walked into my office.

"No, and I never wanted one. Okay, Mr. Joker, let's get straight to the question and answer part of today. How did you sleep last night?" I was all professional as I spoke to him. He didn't seem to like that very much. The smirk fell right off of his face.

"Harley Quinzel… Harley Quinn… ha, HA! _Harlequin_!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to call you Harley Quinn. Is that okay, Harley Quinn?" he grinned and laughed raucously.

"No," I looked him straight in the eye as I spoke and he stopped laughing immediately. From the look in his eyes, I know that if he weren't restrained right now, he would be clutching my throat until my face turned purple. "Does it bother you that I won't let you give me a nickname?"

His smile popped right back up. "Not at all, deary. Because, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not really one to follow the rules."

"I'm quite sure that all of Gotham has noticed that, Mr. Joker."

"Well then. Let's get this session started! Shall we, Harley Quinn?"

I sighed and suppressed a smirk. This was going to be a long, but amusing session. I could feel it.

Walking into work for my third week of working with the Joker, the television in the lobby caught my eye. I came to a stop next to a few of the other doctors and stared as the reporter spoke on location of the most recent crime.

_ "Yet another building has been blown up. There have been other fires as well as murders, and this is the third building in the last two weeks. This time, the world-renowned, black-market drug dealer, Evan Hughes, was inside. Hughes had been passed out inside from excessive alcohol consumption when the explosion occurred. Luckily, Hughes only suffered some minor burns before emergency vehicles arrived at the scene where he was revived, treated, and then later taken into custody for his crimes. The police as of yet have no leads apart from the single "joker" card tucked into the lapel of Hughes' coat. Yes, it was a "joker" card found on the scene, as well as the other recent crimes, but with the infamous Joker locked away, the list of suspects is extremely long, as the arsonist could be anybody._

_ "Hughes' faces trial for his crimes in a week's time and, until this arsonist is stopped, the police will be doing all they can to find out who is behind all of these recent destructive crimes. Back to you, Jack."_

Dr. Arkham turned the television off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "God, what is it with these crazies wanting to destroy our city?"

I chuckled humorlessly. "It's Gotham, Jerry. It's the greatest city in the world! People are jealous," I joked and he cracked a smile, "so they want to ruin us so that their cities have a chance at being the best," I smiled. "But really, we have the worst criminals here. I don't know how it happened. It's like they all just gravitate toward us and wreak as much havoc as they can before they're thrown into one of our padded cells."

"Take Croc for example," Dr. Aaron Calloway said. "Or even the Riddler, or Poison Ivy. Or even Crane. What did he want people to call him?"

"Scarecrow," I offered. "He wanted people to call him Scarecrow. But, compared to our other scoundrels, he was pretty lame. Oh! And Calloway, you absolutely cannot forget to add the Joker to your list."

"You're only saying that because you're treating him," he grumbled and I laughed.

"Think what you want darling, but he was the most threatening and unpredictable one we've had in the history of the city. He never bluffed. He blew up Gotham General, for God's sake!"

"All right, children, that's enough," Dr. Arkham said, laughing at us. "Harleen, I think you should ask him about this recent string of crimes that seem to be attached to him. He might know something."

"Sure thing, boss!" I saluted and, with a smile, walked to my office. My plan was working very well. And this would be the third session with him. That meant that after this, I could start sneaking in some unscheduled sessions and talk to him for real.

I made sure to compose myself before walking into my office. I didn't need him seeing how excited I was that things were going exactly as I'd intended.

"Good morning, Mr. Joker. How are you today?"

"Why, I am great, Harley Quinn. How are you today?" he asked, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees.

"I'm glad you asked," I paused for effect and took a deep breath. "Are you aware of the recent string of crimes in the city? Murders, fires, and exploding buildings? That kind of thing?"

He squinted at me. "I can't say that I do, though that sounds like fun. But I've been here." He lifted his hands to show me the cuffs around his wrists. "What about 'em?"

"Every one of them has your calling card at them. Sometimes there have been a multitude of your cards."

He sure looked interested now. "Wait, hold on, stop. So… you're saying… that, uh… someone has been committing crimes, _like me_… and has been signing them. _Like me_." He was actually looking pretty angry right now. Though that emotion shifted on his face to mix with curiosity, wonderment, and admiration, as well as satisfaction.

"Yes, Mr. Joker, that's what I'm saying. It's been going on for about two weeks now. It's all over the news. Maybe you should try paying some attention to the television every once in a while when you're out of your cell," I suggested, not unkindly. I pushed my glasses up slightly.

"Well, I hope whoever's behind it gains some, uh, _originality_…" he said, staring straight into my soul. For a moment, I feared that he knew it was me. That would blow everything. He would know eventually, I just couldn't have it be now. But soon enough, his searching gaze gave up, as if he didn't find what he'd been looking for and I let out a mental sigh of relief.

"That would be nice, wouldn't it? It may give the police a more solid lead on whoever's doing it. I was supposed to ask if you might know who would be behind it, but seeing as this is the first you've heard of it, I think we can forego that question."

"Good. Then I get to ask mine," he smiled.

I gestured. "Go ahead."

"Do you like pie?"

**So, this one's a little longer, hooray! :D I hope you guys are enjoying it so far, and I would really appreciate it if you would review and subscribe. :) It's been a while since I've written anything, so this is me getting back into the swing of things and constructive criticism and positive feedback is always welcome. :) I will try to update regularly, but it might not _always_ happen, considering I am a full-time student and part-time research assistant.**

**But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know what you think! :D Until next time!**


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